Supporting apparatus



Aug. l0, 1943. w, c EDDY SUPPORTING APPARATUS 1 941 2 Sheets-Sheet lFiled Jan. 3

Filed Jan. 3, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENT OR. WILL/AM C. EDDY ATTORNEY.

Patented Aug. 10, 1943 surnomme ArPnArn-s 4 William o. Eday,Kenilworthging assigner e) RadiOorpcration of America,-fa-eorperationlcf n Delaware nppncaocnaanuaryrs, iscnseriai marasma"6'-}laims.

",My invention relates, in gernsrahy to :movable :supporting members,and :more particularly to :Suola members asgare fcorrnnonliy7 'calledmike booms orimicrophone booms.

sound or Ialfnal .-broadcasting, vand for -such purposes as therecordingof the soundtrack on talking moving pictures, itoften-times'becomes .necessary or .desirable .to providea pick-upmicrophone arrangement` zwhich :may be Ifeasily moved `from point -topoint inforder to best cover the program or material which is sought :to`be .broadcast or recorded. Elaborate arrangements have :been provided:heretofore for fullling this purpose, and :thesezarrangementsfhavehadunde- :sirable ffeatures. Accordingly, .it lis -one of the objects ofmy invention -to provide 1a microphone boom `or support `by fmean'siof:which it is possible `to 1cover.substantially .all of the individual`sections making up .a complete .predetermined area.

Again, the 4microphones `have had Vto haveH eitheran `operator veryclose to the-microphone, or elaboratelarrangements had ,to beprovided-for operating .the microphonercma distance. .Accordingly, it isanother of the fobjectsoi my in-V vention to providefa .microphone 4boomlor support which `may be eaSll-y operated fand -op'erated.re.

motely-therefrom. 4 .j i v .Among the severe fdisadyantages that thesomewhat elaborate arrangements.. heretofore known have sunered is thatthe support for the microphone was necessarily held lbyasomewhat :bulkymovab1e1pedestaL -and in the :case of ltransmission of such :progr-.amssuchlas television programs, the microphone .boom had to :beprohibitively flong, or if .notpthefsupporting pedestal `for the boomwas constantly inthe Wayfof the tele- .vision cameras, particularly iinobtaining closeup -yievvsl The arrangement, contemplated .in thisinvention is :such that it may be nsediinfa television -or soundbroadcasting studio fand 'may be attachedto the ,ceiling thereof, thuspreventingfconflict between the other apparatusrnecessary to the programland :the boom itself. .Accordingly, it is another of the -obijeots yofmy invention to vprovide a microphone boomer-support Which may beVattached to the ceiling or :an elevated vsupport and may be .desirablyoperated therefrom, although `.it `will loe riappreciated that thisapparatus could beworkedsuccessiully,either 1 from a mounting .on :thefloor-or the side wall.

In .View of the fact -that .television-studios at Athe 4present :time`must loe-especially adaptable to .television needs, and further, since=most`of these .studios at the present time .are comparatively small,anything that .contributes -to independence ,of operation of thevarious. units associated inv a television `broadcast hasadstinctadvantage. It

has been -pointedfout hereinbeiore that television Y cameras must moveinto various positions incr- `der to.obtain .the most :desirable fshotsand un- (Cl. 24S-325) less- .the .microphone-.boom was entirely:unwieldy fandftoo long, the. pedestal for the boornvvas `constantly-i-n `conflict .with the Atelevision `cameras. Accordingly, it .isanother ,ofthe .objects .of my invention to `provide a .microphonesupport -or lboom arrangement which is .particnlarlyiadapt- Y able tothe -useszoi television. 1

Again, due to the fact that the-.studios rat the 4present 4time` .aresornevvl'iat small and `iurther,

since a iconsiderable amountof material .is necessary in order .tolightland pick` up. ia ztelevision program and further, since a `very1rapid change trom .characterto-character may be necessitated, it ishighly desirable .that the microphone -arrangement ,be -such that notonlymay .,thedevice be brought near the character, lbut must bekable tomove -to lconsiderably`spaced apart distances Vvery 4rapidly and veryaccurately. The sliding type of boom which has 5beenylrnovvn heretoforecannot satisfactorily f ulnlltheseeconditions. Accorolingly, .it r.is:another `of the objects of .myinvention -toiprovidea .microphoneboorncil-:support arrangement Vwhichmaybe-changed trom char- `actor tocharacter eXtrem-ely quickly with .fa speed nand accuracy notcontemplated hy, nor possible* With the sliding vtype `of .microphoneboom,

Again, since all Aof .the -characters :in -a broadcast are V:not .offthe same height, and .since sound must .be picked -upirom a-characterwhether in afsittingorstanding-position, it is necessary that themicrophone beadapted to bechangedin vertical position. rapidly-landaccurately. ft. fwill- 'be :seen from the hereinafter ycontained:description how `this is made 4feasible with the arrangementhereinafter to 4be described.` Accordingly, it :is another ofl theobjects ,of my'inventionmo provide a microphone `boom or supportarrangement which `may be vertically :adjusted rapidlyiand fac-.curately. v. i

VMy invention, in fgeneral, comprises providing a plurality tof'sinterrelattedgtamn 'members `vvlfiich Yare pivotally engagedWithfeachcother, .and these `anni members are contrcl'ledliremotely "bymeans of power `transmission apparatus such as cables,

ropes, orfiihe like, .and ithese :cables are arranged `so .that therelative :movement of the cables -de `termines lthe `relativemovementfofeachiof the plurality of pivotally supportedmembers withVreference lto the support meniber for sthe Ientire apparatus. Thus,1liryigoverni'ng 'this angular relationship, any portion of-apredetermined area may be Lcovered lby'amicrophone supported at ornear the extremity' 'of one of 'the members, Athe member 'beingpreferaby `that whichis .farthest from .the 7support of the entireapparatus.

My invention Will.- best belunderstood Aby 4reference to theguresinwhich:

Eig.. .l .is a `partially `gint-away drawing lof the .entireapparatus 2is somewhat simplified showing of the entire apparatus, and Y Fig. 3 isa particular showing ofthe remote control features of the apparatus.Y

Referring to Fig.` 1, there is shown a partially broken awayembodimentof the apparatus. plate IU may. be fastened to the ceiling oran appropriate supporting means, and joined Vto IIJ is an aperturedsupport member II whose function will be more fully explainedhereinafter. Two arm members I2 are joined to the plate IIJ by bolt andvnut members I3, the arm members extending downwardly and beingV bentunder at their lower extremity I4 where they are joined to member II.Also connected to plate I is a fshaft I5 which is connected through anabutment or flange I6 to 'the' member vIl) by bolt and TheVr nutrnembersI'I and I8. The opposite lower endof this shaft ends in an abutmentplate I3 whose function will be explained more fully hereinafter. VTheshaft I5 passes through the aperture in the member II and is abutted oneither side thereof 'fitted into vthe cylindrical housingr 22 andthecone 26 whichis'held in fixed relationship with the portion I9 of theshaft I5. These two vmembers are broughtinto co-operative relationshipwith each other'by means of yball bearings 2. It will be obvious Yfromthe particular shape of the 'elements 25 and 25 forming this bearingVthat both a lateral and a thrust support is obtained.

Connected to the lower extremity ofthe cylindrical member 22, andshown'parti'ally broken away at its point of joining is a rod or beammember 28 whose function will be explained more fully hereinafter.y Atthe upper extremity of the Ycylindrical member 22 there is positioned apulley around which iswound a cable SI. Y A thrust plate 32 is fastenedto the pulley 39,and is adapted to rest upon ballfbearings 34, theball'be'arings r being positioned in av thrust plate 3B. Thrust plate 36is mounted on top of the cylindrical member 22. VAlso fastened 'to theupper section of the cylindrical member 22 is a rod or beam member 38which' is'shown partially in section l Where it joins the cylindricalmemben The rod 284 is similarly shown. Q Y v An inner ring bearing d ismounted on `the shaft I5 and has aAv ball racefor ballv bearings 42which are housed-byan outer ring bearing 44.l The ball bearing assembly4i), 42, 44 enables the cylindrical housing 22 to turn freely on thestationary shaft I5. y Y

Positioned near the'lower extremity of the'cylindrical member 22-is apulley 45. The face of this pulley is arranged to receive a drive cable45 which isY shown as having been looped completely around thepulleyftwice. Also joined to vpulley 45 isa thrust plate 48 which isrecessed to providefa ball race for ball bearings 49 therein.Immediately above thrustjplate '48"is a similar thrust plate 5I! whichisjoined to 'apulley 5|, which pulley haswound thereabout a cablestretches of the cable are shown'. It will be seen,

52. For the sake 'of simplicity,- only fragmentary therefore, that thepulley member 5I can rotate freely about the cylindrical member 22 onthe bearing formed between the elements 48, 49 and 56. The cable 46hasone portion thereof passing over idler pulley 54 and another portionthereof passing over idler pulley 55, and thence to a drum type of drivewhich is shown more clearly in Fig. Similarly, cable 52 passes on oneportion thereof over idler pulley 56 and another portion thereof passesoverV idler pulley 5l to a similar remote drive.

The support members 28 and 38 have been shown'as broken away, and theright hand extremities thereof are indicated at a more centralfragmentary portion of Fig. l. A shaft 62 passes through holes in themembers 28 and 38, which Yshaft has an abutment 63 at the upper endthereof, and another abutmenty 54 at the lower end thereof. Positionedabout and co-axial with shaft E2 is a cylindrical member 65 havingfastened at the upper end thereof a beam member 66, and'at the lowerextremity thereof a beam member 6l. Joined to the outer face of thecylindrical Ymember 65 is a pulley or windlass 56,

and the cable 53 is wound about this pulley with preferably a doubleturn.

Similarly to the radial and thrust bearing assembly positioned at thebottom of shaft I5 is suoh'an assembly formed by the cone l, the balls lIV and the cup bearing '12. Near the top of the cylindrical member 65and on the inner section Vthereof the member 55 is spaced apart from,and

is maintained freely rotatable about the member 62 bymeans of ringbearings 'I4 and 'I5 fastened one to cylindrical member 55, and theother to shaft member 52. Appropriate ball bearings 'I5 are positionedbetween the elements 'E5 and l5.

The beam members 55 and 5l' continue as shown in the fragmentary portionfurther to the right of Fig, l, these members being joined at .theirextremities by a vertical cross-bar 52.

Cross-bar 82 supports a ballv bearing assembly -33 which'constitutes thefulcrum of afbell crank unit having arms 84 and 85. The microphone 85 ispivotally supported at the extremity of the member 85.

. Fastened to the upper end of shaft 62 is a swivel eye arrangement 92through the eye of phone 86 dropping inposition due to-the effect -of'gravity. The cablev3l passes to the'left of -the swivel eye 92 aroundpulley 35 and thence Y over an idler pulley 95 vwhich is supported bythe memberSI. A counter-weight (not shown) may be fastened to the end ofthe cableso as to substantially balance the weight of the microphone.

Referring to Fig. 2, there is shownV the arrangement of Fig. 1 insomewhat less detail. In this flguresimilar parts are referred to by thesame numerals as in Fig. l, and in addition a Yfair lead arrangementaround the pulleys is shown.r Positioned around the pulleys 45 Vand 5Iis a cup arrangement-IE5 which is'fastened into place, and through whichare adapted to pass the cable members going to the pulleys 55 and 5I.With this arrangement it is not necessary that the cable'be lwound aboutthe pulleys in orderto pass entirely through 'themember to engage thepulley 6,8. The openings in this arrangement are identified as I 2li,v|21 and I28,`1"espectively. Also,

, as the case may be.

of cable 52 is moved or retracted the retracting relative to the otherwill cause'the cable to turn the pulley 45. In View of the fact thatbeam vmembers 28 and 38 are fastened to the cylinder` 22, and thatpulley 45 also is fastened to the cylinder 22, the beam members will beturned about the axis of the pulley to a degree determined by the amountof cable wound and unwound therefrom. The degree to which this pulleyturns will be dependent upon the amount of y C cable which is wound andunwound therefrom, and the direction in which it is turned` will de-Ypend upon which way the cable winds or unwinds Similarly,` when onesection section will pull the pulley 5| which is freely rotatable aboutthe cylinder 22, and in turn the roi tation of this pulley and thewinding and unwinding of cable therefrom will cause a vwinding andunwinding of theV sameV cable which passes around the pulley de. Sincethepulley 68 is fastened to the cylinder member 55, and further, sincethis cylindrical member is freely rotatable about the axis of the member62, beams 65 and Eil will be turned in View of the fact that they arefastened to the cylindrical member 65, the latter in turn being fastenedtothe pu1ley68. This means, then, that the microphone may be placed overany point in the entire area covered by 360 rotation of the pulley 45.Since it may be desired to either raise or lower the microphone as wellas to place it over a denite point, the cable 3l may be retracted or letout as may be desired in order to either raise or lower the microphone,respectively. i

Referring to Fig. 3, there is shown an arrange-V ment by means of whichya desired pulley or pulleys may be turned. For purposes of illustrationthe cable 52 has been selected. One end, H30, of this cable may befastened to a drummember lill, and wound thereabout and thence acrosspulley 5l around pulley 5|, and thence around pulley 68, and thenreturned around pulley 5| across idler pulley 55 to the drum lill, wherethe' other end may be fastened. The drum IGI is driven through shaftmeans |22 which may be appropriately related thereto, either directly orthrough means of gears, the latter being driven by a motor. It will beappreciated that the eny ergizing leads to the motor may be led someconof the pulley 68 dueto the'cable being wound and unwound upon thepulley 5|. This illustrates the control of the section of the devicefrom the cylinder 65 to the microphone, illustrated here as beingcomprised of beam members A similar arrangement may be used to drive thepulley 45,

It will be appreciated that there may be departures from the exactshowing illustrated in these drawings as, for instance, in actualpractice 'it is quite likely that truss members may be fastened betweenthe beam members so as to strengthen the device. Accordingly, I claimall structure which may fall fairly within the spirit Y and scope ofthis invention as dened in the hereinafter appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. A support apparatus including a first arm member rotatable about afixed axis, a second arm member pivotally supported by said first memberon an axis parallel to the first said axis, and separatecable-and-pulley means for independently rotating each one of saidmembers `about its axis of rotation.

2. A microphone boom including a rst arm memberfrotatable about a xedaxis, a second arm member pivotally supported by said first member andadapted to be rotated about said pivot, separate cable-and-pulley meansfor independently rotating each one of said members about its axis ofrotation, a third arm member pivotally supported by said second member,means for supporting a microphone on the outer end of said third member,a counter-weight, and cable means interconnecting said counter-weightand said microphone for sustaining the latter at a desired elevation.

3. Apparatus in accordance with claim 2, wherein at least one of saidcable-and-pulley means includes at least one pulley member hav- -ing itsaxis substantially coincident with the axis of said first arm member.

Apparatus according to claim'l and including a third arm memberpivotally supported by saidsecond arm member on an axis which givesfreedom of rotation of said third arm member in the plane of the pivotalaxis of said second arm member, a useful load supported at the outer endof said third arm member, and cable-and-pulley means for rotating saidthird arm member on its axis.

5. Apparatus according to claim 1 in which said cable-,and-pulley meansincludes a driven pulley mounted coaxially with respect to the pivotalaxis of the second said arm member and operable to rotate the same.

6. A microphone boom comprising a support shaft, said support shafthaving means for attaching said boom to the interior of a studio, afirst cylindrical 'member arranged to rotate around said support shaft,an arm secured to said cylinder, a cable drum secured to said cylinder,a second shaft secured to said arm at the end opposite said supportshaft, a second cylindrical member surrounding said second shaft, asecond arm secured to said second cylinder, a third f arm pivoted atright angles to the axis of said first and second support shafts, andseparate means for independently moving each one of said arms.

WILLIAM C. EDDY.

